November 14, 2019
Sodium controls fluid balance in our bodies and maintains blood pressure. Eating too much sodium, or salt, may raise blood pressure and cause fluid retention. This could lead to swelling of the legs and feet or even other health issues such as stroke, heart attack, and kidney disease. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium in a day and moving toward an ideal limit of no more than 1,500 mg per day for most adults. Because the average American eats so much excess sodium, even cutting back by 1,000 mg a day can significantly improve blood pressure and heart health.
Holiday meals don’t have to be boring and bland to keep you on track. Meals, based on classic dishes that are either family recipes or traditions can be updated and even enhanced to bring lots of holiday cheer. If you have health challenges, or have made a commitment to improve your overall health, in order to protect your heart, or reduce hypertension, this could be a fun way to start new traditions.
Steer clear of high sodium foods that could add more sodium to your meal than the actual salt shaker. Protein sources that can easily go over the daily recommendation are deli meat finger sandwiches, turkeys basted or brined, salted nuts, and canned beans. Dairy products such as processed cheese and cheese sauces could provide an excessive amount of sodium. Dinner rolls with butter and prepackaged stuffing mixes are heavily laden with salt. Pickled vegetables and pre-prepared vegetable dips could be easily modified to decrease the amount of sodium they would contain otherwise.
So, gather everyone in the kitchen, and make a dish from scratch this year so that you have total control over the amount of sodium in your favorite dishes. Experiment with different pairings to really perk up any dish, such as pumpkin and ginger, green beans with lemon and pepper, beets with orange and clove and purple, sweet, and white potatoes with rosemary and thyme to enliven everyone’s taste buds.